The invention relates to a ring counter comprising a plurality of stages with electronic switches and holding circuits, which are linked to sequence switches, and which switch voltages on or off in equipment, particularly television and radio equipment.
In modern radio and television technology, as is well known, so-called sensor ICs are used, which make it possible for the equipment keys to switch over or switch the equipment and which are merely touched and no longer have to be pressed. A sensor IC is an integrated circuit which is built up of a plurality of stages.
In known circuits, as will be explained later, a plurality of capacitances are required and this is a disadvantage when constructing the ring counters as integrated circuits due to their required values. Thus the capacitances may be required to have a value of 20 to 30pF and be able to block voltages of up to 30V. This high blocking voltage requires a relatively large semiconductor surface if it is to be produced by integrated circuit techniques and this can make the unit excessively unwieldy and expensive.